Y’know the older-than-dirt mythological trope of a direct connection between the king and a somewhat-animist-in-operation kingdom that changes according to his status, righteousness of rule, etc. (The Fisher King being the usual example)?

“Licensed, not sold” and the ability to control, more or less in perpetuity, the behavior of locked-down-and-remote-updated devices seems surprisingly similar in practical implication to this. A strange sort of crossover between chivalric-legend-magical-realism and gritty cyberpunk dystopia where whatsoever property the lord enfiefs unto his vassals remains forever imbued with a portion of his agency and an extension of his senses.

Y’know the older-than-dirt mythological trope of a direct connection between the king and a somewhat-animist-in-operation kingdom that changes according to his status, righteousness of rule, etc.

And make no mistake, corporations want kingdoms with border walls that they alone control.

Corporations can move jobs overseas at will. They can buy goods and materials overseas. They bribe/lobby to have trade in services included in all the hot new international trade agreements.

Not so for us serfs. Those who buy goods from second world countries and sell them in North America at second world prices, tend to find themselves in court. DVDs come region-coded to keep the markets separate. Canadians are blocked from watching Daily Show clips linked to on many web sites.

And of course there’s the reigning queen of Bell Media declaring Canadians with US Netflix accounts to be thieves. Sure, they’re paying for it. Sure, it’s neither illegal nor unethical. But her assholiness (1) has decreed it to be stealing and demands that we stop. (2)

(1) Sorry. I was just reading about Yellowbeard. You should too. (This is NOT a recommendation to watch the movie.)

(2) This situation may soon be reversed. Netflix has Canadian streaming rights this year for Star Wars: The Force Awakes, but in the US the premium cable channel Starz has exclusive rights. Americans may be paying for Canadian Netflix.

It’s true. Cars are occasionally a necessary evil. Sometimes I have to beg rides off my parents or friends if I need to go really far or need to carry a lot. Although, I do have a funky trailer for my bike to carry stuff* (at least I’ll be able to use it again once I’ve fixed the attacher-thingy) and that carries a lot. I even ran a local gardening business with it. Most people would be surprised at how much you can do without owning a car (living downtown in a major city - living in the country it’s a very different proposition).